A file photo shows a Russian Kilo-class conventional submarine belonging to the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy at the naval headquarters of the China North Sea Fleet in the eastern Chinese port city of Qingdao on Aug. 2, 2000. The Chinese military may have made significant progress on its new submarine fleet, given recent media reports. (Goh Chai Hin/AFP/Getty Images)

China nuclear subs were spotted for the first time in around 40 years this week after the country’s military gave China’s state-run broadcaster a tour of its nuclear fleet.

This week, a video from CCTV, a Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece, shows a military officer walking through a submarine, explaining its functions. Rumors spread on Chinese social media sites suggest the submarines are the Type 094 Jin Class subs.

“The submarine programs mentioned are from the first generation, the Type 091 or Han class nuclear attack sub and the Type 092 or Xia class nuclear ballistic missile submarine,” Richard Fisher, Jr., a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, told The Epoch Times in an e-mail interview.

State-run Xinhua showed Chinese navy officers performing displays on the submarines off the coast of Qingdao, located in Shandong Province.

They conducted simulated military drills, safety drills, and training exercises.

According to the Financial Times, state media said the submarines would “gallop to the depths of the ocean, serving as mysterious forces igniting the sound of thunder in the deep sea,” and would be used as an “assassin’s mace that would make adversaries tremble.”

In recent years, the Chinese navy has been used more and more to assert the regime’s influence over the region. Last year, tensions erupted between China and Japan over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. The Chinese regime also was involved in a diplomatic spat with the Philippines over nearby sea territory.